Casual Encounter
by cagd
Summary: Spike, post Not Fade Away, meets another strange woman, or it could be the flip side of One Night Stand had things gone the other way. Goes well with Widows, October Dandelion, Empty Rooms, and One Night Stand.


You wake up beside her  
In her little house  
Full of plants and books  
And a cat (which you've  
Never seen.)  
And realize that she doesn't  
Need you, you are just a  
A minor incident in her  
Larger picture and that  
Really if you are there or  
Not it doesn't matter,  
And she knows it.  
You met her three nights  
Ago in a public place,  
Argued, chatted and  
Eventually she took  
You home to this little  
Place, a quiet haven  
In plain sight in the  
Middle of a run-down  
Neighborhood with  
Junked cars on the  
Street and bald lawns  
Where once there were  
Rose gardens.  
She opened the door  
And let you in where  
You had coffee with her  
Before the two of you  
Knocked over stacks  
Of books, disrupted  
The life of the cat  
And flattened  
A few Boston ferns  
With your wrestling  
Half in and out of  
Your clothes, the two  
Of you, engaged in  
Grownup fun.  
Even then you had  
The feeling that  
Though she moved  
Beneath you as  
The two of you  
Danced a slow  
Tango across the  
Carpet of her living  
Room among half  
Finished paintings  
And part of an  
Airplane wing, that  
She was somewhere else-  
Somewhere you weren't.  
Somewhere you couldn't be.  
Afterwards the two  
Of you in a comfortable  
Tangle beneath an afghan  
Just sort of talked, nothing  
Serious, poetry, the weather,  
The price of cigarettes-  
And you still noticed that  
She wasn't there, not like  
All the women you've ever  
Had before.  
They were always needy,  
They needed you, for  
Strength, support,  
Or prestige-  
Having someone who  
Looks like you is  
A victory in many  
Women's eyes.  
She was also brutally  
Honest without hesitation.  
She told you to put out  
Your cigarette or stand  
Out in her back yard  
In the rain if you wanted  
To smoke. She said  
You needed a bath.  
You needed to shave.  
She looked at herself  
In the mirror and told  
You that she knew what  
You were, and that looks  
Can only get you so far,  
Hell, she should know.  
It pissed you off,  
This honesty so you did  
Everything you could to  
Prove her otherwise,  
Bringing out your best  
For which she thanked you  
Somewhat distantly but  
Fondly, still, no dice.  
Feeling like you were  
Auditioning for a play  
That you knew you had  
No chance in Hell in  
Getting a part in,  
You continued-  
Even to the point where  
You tried to show her  
That sex wasn't the only  
Thing you were good for.  
She thanked you fondly  
But distantly, until you  
Asked her, "What does  
It take?"  
And she replied,  
"Be yourself.  
Otherwise,  
You don't interest  
Me."  
Which was weird, this _is_  
You. It's always been you.  
You've always had someone  
Dependant on you. Either  
They started out that way  
Like your mother, or you  
Saw to it that they were by  
The time you were done  
With them – and all she  
Said was "Be yourself."  
So you lie here staring  
At the ceiling of her little  
House in a bad neighborhood,  
Full of plants, books and perhaps  
A cat, presumed Siamese,  
Wondering, "Where do I  
Even begin?"  
After a while you get up,  
Pull on your trousers,  
Then your shirt, your   
Boots, knowing that  
Once you leave it will  
Be as if you were never here,  
You step outside and light  
Up as the last of the sunset  
Fades away, "Where do I  
Even begin?" You  
Pack your crap onto  
The back of your bike  
And climb aboard.  
She comes out in one  
Of your shirts, that you  
Forgot to pack in your  
Kit, with a cup of coffee  
In each hand.  
She barefoots it  
Across the ragged  
Grass and hands one to you.  
The two of you stand  
Side by side, not as lovers,  
Not as dependants, not as…  
Well, what?  
After a while you hand  
Her the empty mug back  
And you stand there looking  
At her with her sex tousled  
Hair, just for another minute  
Before you venture a quick  
Kiss, which she smiles at wryly,  
You step back, still off balance  
Watching her face, thinking  
"Where do I even begin?"  
Ten minutes later you're back  
On the Interstate, headed  
East for no real good reason  
Other than that's the way  
The next real town is,  
Remembering what  
You saw over your  
Shoulder as you looked  
Back at her, engine idling.  
Her lips moved,  
Saying, "Just be yourself."  
Before she turned and went  
Back into her house with her  
Books and plants and possible  
Cat, and closed the door  
Behind her.


End file.
